1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a socket assembly, and particularly to a socket assembly with a vacuum pickup cap.
2. Description of Related Art
As the technology develops, manual assembling is replaced by automatic assembling. In general, during the automation of assembling an electrical connector to a printed circuit board, frequently, a vacuum pickup device is used to pick up the electrical connector from one position to another position. However, referring to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,290,805, 6,328,574, 5,651,684, 5,819,404 and 6,337,489, when picked up by a vacuum pickup device, the electrical connector has to define a smooth surface for being sucked by the pickup device. An article entitled xe2x80x9cMicroPGA packagesxe2x80x9d which is shown in Page 92 of Electronic Design published on Jan. 7, 2002 discloses a socket for a Central Processor Unit (CPU). The socket defines a rectangular through hole in a center thereof for dissipating beat produced by the CPU; therefore, the socket cannot be directly sucked by a vacuum pickup device. Generally, the socket is provided with a vacuum pickup cap for being sucked by the vacuum pickup device.
Referring to FIG. 4, a related vacuum pickup cap 3 is made of a transparent flexible film. The vacuum pickup cap 3 is adhered to an upper surface of a socket 4 for being sucked by a vacuum pickup device (not shown) to move the socket 4 from one position to another. However, since the socket 4 defines a rectangular through hole 40 in a center thereof, there is no solid structure in the center of the socket 4 for the vacuum pickup cap 3 to adhere to. The vacuum pickup cap 3 must have a thickness large enough so that it is strong to not to deform when the vacuum pickup device applies a vacuum force to the pickup cap 3. A thick pickup cap is costly.
FIG. 5 discloses another related vacuum pickup cap 5 which is made of plastic. The vacuum pickup cap 5 defines a pair of through holes 51 near a center thereof. The vacuum pickup cap 5 comprises a pair of spring arms (not shown) on a bottom surface thereof for engaging with a socket 6. Since the vacuum pickup cap 5 has two through holes 51, the area of the vacuum pickup cap 5 usable for a sucker of a vacuum pickup device (not shown) is limited in the largest internally tangent circle A (shown in broken line). This reduces the sucking force of the vacuum pickup device. In addition, the vacuum pickup cap 5 is assembled to the socket 6 by spring arms, which is disadvantageous from the view of automatic assembling the pickup cap 5 to the socket 6.
Hence, an improved vacuum pickup cap is required to overcome the disadvantages of the related vacuum pickup caps.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a socket assembly with a vacuum pickup cap which can be automatically assembled to a socket and which can decrease the material cost.
In order to achieve the above object, a socket assembly includes a socket and a vacuum pickup cap. The socket includes a base, a cover movably assembled upon the base and an actuating rod assembled on the base and the cover for driving the cover to move relative to the base. The cover defines a through hole in a center thereof. The vacuum pickup cap includes a flexible bottom plate and a flexible film. The flexible bottom plate has a sticky bottom surface adhered to an upper surface of the cover and covering the through hole of the cover. The flexible film has a sticky bottom surface adhered to the flexible bottom plate, and a smooth upper surface adapted for being sucked by a vacuum pickup device.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.